Sixteen essays about individual animals, including wild (woolly mammoth, rhinoceros, starling, crocodile, gorilla, lion) and domesticated (housecat, racing pigeons, elephant, horses, goats), named and made famous by humans.Beginning with Yuka, a 39,000 year old mummified woolly mammoth recently found in the Siberian permafrost, each of the 16 essays investigates a different famous animal named and immortalized by humans. Modeled loosely after a medieval bestiary, these witty, playful, whipsmart essays traverse history, myth, science, and more, bringing each beast vibrantly to life. Elena Passarello is an actor and writer. She writes on pop culture, music, performing arts and the natural world. Her first essay collection was Let Me Clear My Throat. She is an assistant professor in creative writing in the College of Liberal Arts at Oregon State University.
Content Note
Yuka (39,000 BP) -- The wolf of Gubbio (1207) -- Ganda (1515) -- Sackerson (1601) -- Joeffry (1760) -- Vogel Staar (1784) -- Harriet (1835) -- War pigs (1870-2012) -- Jumbo II (1901) -- Four horsemen (1904-2012) -- Mike (1945) -- Arabella (1973) -- Lancelot (1985) -- Koko (1988) -- Osama (1998) -- Celia (2003) -- Cecil (2015).